Tag Archives: tv

In my last post I wrote about the television series that I have watched recently and I got up to Pretty Little Liars which is back on! Horray!
But going back to the break from it until now; I stumbled upon American Horror Story on Netflix and I almost didn’t watch it. I’d never heard of it before and I made the assumption that it’d be really cheesy and have a really annoying cast but I gave it a go anyway and I am so glad I did because it was phenomenal. I was about ten minutes it when I realised that I was already hooked and from then on I couldn’t wait for each episode and I kept trying to work out where it’d go from there and it was constantly on my mind. There are currently five seasons and as far as I know there will be a 6th. I’ve only seen Murder House, Asylum, Coven and Freak Show but I am looking forward to seeing Hotel. Each season is a different story so the first one is Murder House which is about a family moving in to a really big, old fashioned and relatively creepy looking house which they soon discover is haunted. It’s actually quite a complex storyline involving an enormous cast and various back stories, flash backs and so on but it is put together so flawlessly it’s like a work of art. The main cast all end up playing multiple roles in each season and you might have them recurring in each season or take a break through one and appear later on but it really shows how incredible their acting skills are because you either fall in love or hate a character and then see that actor in a different role soon after and forget that they just played someone else before (like actors do duh). I absolutely love Jessica Lange, I think that she is incredible and I was sad to hear that she won’t be involved in American Horror Story anymore. I also absolutely love Evan Peters which surprised me because I saw him in Sleepover (2004) and absolutely couldn’t stand him but he has come such a long way in the past eleven years and not only is he one of the most talented actors I’ve seen in a while…he’s also a bit of a heart throb. He reminds me a lot of a young Johnny Depp. Anyway this is something I’d highly recommend especially if you are a fan or have been a fan of horror movies or television series. I’ll be doing a full post about this in the near future as it is brilliant and deserves more written about it.
After this I gave Bates Motel a go, but after the two episodes I wasn’t impressed and although I may give it another go in the future I decided to move on to Orange Is The New Black which I’d heard from so many people how good it was and knew a small amount about it before watching it but this one grew on me as I didn’t love it to start off with but over time I think it’s just got better and better. The cast is absolutely superb, especially Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon (That 70’s Show), Taryn Manning (Crossroads), Natasha Lyonne (American Pie) and Madeline Brewer. To be honest with you, I could list them all as they are all incredible actors and actresses. This is an amazing show based on a memoir written by Piper Kerman on her own experiences in a women’s prison for drug trafficking and money laundering back in 2004. I would highly recommend this series, it’s a moving story with a great amount of comedy thrown in, and there are so many different characters all with interesting back stories. I can’t wait for this to return as we are currently up to Series 3 and eagerly waiting to find out what happens next.
So here we are… back to the present and waiting for the next episode of the amazing Pretty Little Liars. It’s absolutely fantastic, the beginning of this season jumps forward five years and the girls all meet up again in Rosewood and it gets messy again with a new A, more lies and more twists.

So since having my son back in March last year I have watched so many TV series while being at home with him. It’s so much easier to put aside a half an hour to an hour to watch an episode even if it’s when I’m having my lunch or when my son is eating or napping (the only time he’s quiet) whereas making time to read or watch a film is a bit tricky. So it’s an easy form of entertainment for me. There are several that I gave up on as I wasn’t enjoying them or just needed a break as I lost interest for a little while, some I am waiting for more episodes or another series and some I have finished but I decided that I could write a little on some of them and then I am going to write more in depth reviews on some of the best and worst of them so keep posted for that.
It all started with Desperate Housewives which I actually started watching when I was heavily pregnant and finished the series when my son was a few months old. I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did but the combination of serious issues, dark comedy and an amazing cast (especially when Nathan Fillion appeared toward the end) made it really enjoyable. For those of you who don’t know, Desperate Housewives came out back in 2004 and ran until 2012. I think that although it started strong and went a tiny bit downhill, for eight seasons it was still enjoyable by the end which is very hard to do. The first series focuses on the suicide of Mary Alice but trails away from that and starts to focus more and more on the lives on Susan, Lynette, Bree and Gabrielle who are neighbours and friends (and sometimes enemies) and all so different but despite their differences always have time for each other. I think as well they all soften up and become more understanding of each other and themselves as the time goes on.
I then went for Dexter which is another American series. This ran from 2006 and finished in 2013 and like Desperate Housewives had eight long seasons. I need to go back to this and finish watching it but I needed to take a break… a really long break. I think I managed to last for three seasons before deciding I’d had enough. The first season is incredible and I would recommend watching that to anyone, even if you don’t watch past that. But I felt that it should have finished there. So Dexter Morgan is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, here he works alongside his sister and a few friends but what they don’t know is that he has a massive secret, which is that he is a serial killer. What I love about Dexter is that although he is a serial killer and thinks he hasn’t got a heart or any passion he actually has which comes more and more to the surface (unless things changed after I stopped watching) and you also find out more about why he kills and his background and I ended up feeling quite a bit of understanding and empathy toward him (but not an excuse for his murdering…that’s never good). I did find that after season one it’s not got as much as a pull but I do hope that it gets better again as it goes on as I do want to finish watching it and see how it develops.
So after giving up (temporarily) on Dexter I caught up with Pretty Little Liars which is something I started watching a few years ago and got behind on when I was waiting for the second or third season. This came out in 2010 and is still going strong, they have just done the big reveal on who ‘A’ is and I’m hoping that the last season (I think that there is still one more to go) will be as gripping. I’m waiting for the next lot of episodes to be released and the wait is honestly really tough. I think that this is my second favourite TV series (nothing will ever come close to my all time favourite which is Firefly and will get it’s very own blog post dedicated to it in the near future) with it’s enormous cliff hangers, twists and turns, absolutely incredible cast and beautifully written script. It all starts with the disappearance of the popular Alison DiLaurentis who is played by Sasha Pieterse and then the finding of her body in the garden of Spencer Hastings who is one of her best friends. From then her friends Spencer, Hanna, Emily and Aria are plagued with texts, notes and various other forms of blackmail and threats from ‘A’. This is one of those programmes with so many characters and different parts to the main storyline that it is really hard trying to remember everything that has gone on but it’s absolutely amazing and I’d highly recommend this. I think this is aimed at older teenagers and young adults but I think that it is brilliant. And I think I’ll actually be sad when it’s finished as I enjoy it that much.
Anyway that is it for now. I’m sorry that this isn’t a great blog post but I’m really out of practice and I’m writing it quick before my son wakes up which is any minute now. I’ll be writing a part two…and maybe three to this and then doing more in depth reviews on some of these that I have mentioned and some I will. If you have any recommendations for anything to watch please comment and I’ll check them out.

A little while ago, I wrote a quick piece about the ‘Guest Stars of the Month’.

I thought I’d follow that up with some random thoughts on some particularly good guest stars I’ve seen lately.

Carrie Preston
Most will know Carrie Preston from her recurring role in ‘True Blood’, but she has been appearing in a few shows over the past year or so, most notably ‘The Good Wife’ and ‘Person of Interest’. Both of these appearances have shown she is a far greater actress than ‘True Blood’ indicated (which was already good).

Curtis Armstrong
Once, mainly known for being ‘Bert Viola’ in ‘Moonlighting’, he has been in loads of things over the years. Now appearing as ‘Metatron’ in Supernatural.

Magda Apanowicz
After appearing as a series regular in ‘Caprica’, not much has been seen of her (we’ll ignore that short run on ‘Hellcats’), but a new recurring role in ‘Continuum’ is a welcome return to mainstream tv. Has also appeared in some Team Unicorn projects in the past couple of years too, so more interesting things could appear.

Denis O’Hare
‘Russell Edgington’ of ‘True Blood’, but also has recurring appearances in ‘The Good Wife’. A great actor.

Tina Majorino
Hopefully, she will appear in the ‘Veronica Mars’ film, but if she doesn’t, then her recent role on Greys Anatomy, where she has really been making her mark, should keep her on the way up.

Amy Acker
Always great, she has continued to keep the quality up throughout this season on ‘Person of Interest’.

Timothy Busfield
Been around for ever, but it’s always good to see him appear in stuff. Most recently in ‘Revolution’.

Patrick Flueger
I’ve not seen much of him since ‘The 4400’, so good to see him back again.

Often, when we are watching the myriad shows we follow, you end up spotting the same faces over and over again. Most of the time this goes in cycles and a few faces will crop up in everything for a time, then they’ll be replaced by a new crop of faces. So it goes in the Hollywood system.

As we’re in the Christmas hiatus, you start to think about where the tv shows you watch have been and where they could go. Now, I haven’t read any of The Walking Dead comics, so am blissfully unaware of any upcoming plot twists. I can but hope that one key one is coming though… Carl must die…

The actor, Chandler Riggs, does a great job of portraying him and I have no complaints about his performance, but the character on the other hand is so annoying as to detract from everything else. I have wondered how the group haven’t just thrown Carl to the walkers out of annoyance already…

Apparently, some of the new characters introduced just before the hiatus are quite good, so we can only hope they will convince the others to boot Carl firmly into the undead category!